The Ace of Riders Vehicle Store[open]

Takes place on Thursday of the third week in the third month.

It was a meager rental garage building packed in the middle of the streets of Vale. The doors are wide open and inside one can see several vehicles lying around, each one with a For Sale sign on it. Right at dead center of this makeshift vehicle shop was a motor cycle vehicle raised a few feet off the ground by mere cinder blocks.

Spoiler:

Crouched next to it was a faunus, his cat ears twitching in rhythm with the clicks of his ratchet. Contrary to his usual coat, Cheshire is wearing an engineer's overalls and a black t-shirt as well as a pair of goggles over his own glasses.

"Give me a 7/16 allen wrench," Cheshire mumbles sticking his hand out.

After a few seconds of rummaging, Alice pulls out the desired tool from the tool box and places it on Cheshire's opened hand.

"If I don't sell at least one vehicle this week, I'm going to be in the red," Cheshire grumbles grumpily as he tightens the bolt.

"Maybe you should start making them more cool looking," Alice commented. "Or maybe you should just beg the land lord to refund you your rent and give up on this altogether."

"I need to make money," Cheshire grumbled. "If I don't I won't be able to buy those concert tickets to Kara's next show... Besides, I promised you guys a turkey dinner and by my honor I will buy every single one of you a turkey dinner!"

"Hey, look on the bright side little black cat," Byron says as he walks towards the pit area where Cheshire and Alice were, "You managed to get one guy to buy one of your vehicles."

"You paid half the amount," Cheshire snapped pointing his ratchet at Byron, "and somehow talked me into agreeing to let you work off the rest."

"Speaking of which, I should go do some advertising," Byron chuckled turning  around and walking towards the opening. "What do you want me to pick up for lunch on the way back?"

"If it's edible and you're buying I'll eat it," Cheshire grumbled as he continued working on Bandersnatch.

"I want fried chicken!" Alice stated raising her hand.

"I'll stop by Sisters then," Byron said.

"Their chicken is soggy and over peppered," Cheshire stated. "Go get it from Pokeye's."

"GOT IT BOSS!" was the last thing Byron yelled back before zooming out of the garage riding a shiny black vehicle, a trail of cyan light following him as he tossed flyers around.

Spoiler:

"Maybe we should get the rest of the vehicles out into the open for people to see?" Alice offered to the busy faunus.

"The two we have out in the open are good enough to attract attention," Cheshire mumbled.

"Yeah but... they don't give the most positive... first impression," Alice stated hesitantly looking at the two cars.

Spoiler:

"If they are looking for anything specific I'm sure I have something to fit their needs," Cheshire grumbled as he lit his mini torch.  "From broken down junk automobiles to working vehicles combined with weapon transformation technology. That's how we stick out from every other car lot in the city...."

Liseran had been walking around for a while and it was only then that she found what she had been looking for.

"A vehicle store..." she said in momentary awe.
There was a lot of racket coming from the inside and she could even see people. That made her heart skip a beat. The only thing Liseran didn't like about searching in shops like this was that she'd need to be very specific on what she wanted.

Since Liseran had left the Dormirse Household, she had been living in a small cottage a relative distance from the academy. Her initiation hadn't started yet so she wouldn't have a dorm. In the meantime, she'd need something to travel around with. Using the Walker spell on Weeping Cerinthe wasted a lot of her dust when she went to school.

Slowly, she poked her head inside. She was holding a new book today called Poetry by Famous Faunus (its nickname was F. Poe). There was a male faunus with cat ears working on one of the vehicles and a girl with rabbit ears (but they looked more like a hat) nearby.

She gazed upon the relic vehicles until she stopped at one. A two-wheeled one with the face of an ominous bird. It was at that same time that she had a vision.

"The Raven," the male faunus would later call it.

The vision stopped and she felt her cheeks blush in pure delight. Without further ado, she approached the man, her hands trembling with nervousness behind the long sleeves of her cardigan.

"E-excuse me?"

The clicks of his ratchet stopped at the sound of a timid female voice. Setting his tools down, Cheshire stood up taking his greasy gloves off and set them on the seat of Bandersnatch as he took a clean rag from Alice and cleaned his hands. He turned around to face the girl that had entered his shop. With a courteous slight bending of his back in a small bow Cheshire greets her.

"Welcome to the Ace of Riders," he said, "My name is Cheshire Schrodinger. It is a pleasure to have you here. How may I help you?"

"You're supposed to be an engineer not a waiter," Alice mumbled out loud. Cheshire's ears twitched but he relatively ignored her.

Aeden had been doing a bit of shopping was a thinking to himself as he walked. I did come here for booze but I should probably lay off it for a while. I think Isabelle's starting to get suspicious. Aeden continues his walk when he spots a dealership. Aeden's eyes light up as he looks at the building. "A dealership? This is going to be good, maybe I could get a ride and have a race with Shem. I don't think he's even let me touch Sleiphnir ever since he built it. Let's have a look." Aeden walks into the store and sees three people inside recognizing one of them. It was Zwei's faunus friend Cheshire although he was dressed rather differently than usual. "Cheshire? You work here?" Aeden took another look at the dealership. "No offense but that's a little surprising." Aeden notices the two girls in the room. "Oh I'm sorry that was rude of me I must have interrupted something."

Glancing at Aeden, Cheshire looks back at the timid girl before him and give an apologetic bow. "If you need any help you need only ask." Cheshire walks towards Aeden to greet him. "I actually own the place. Rented the garage for the month, dragged some scrapped automobiles from the trash and used any working parts, now I'm selling vehicles in hopes to make enough money to pay the rent by the end of the month.... and some other expenses. Looking for anything?"

Aeden looks over to the girl who seemed to be a customer. "I'm incredibly sorry. My name's Aeden by the way." Aeden turns back to Cheshire. "Well yes I'm thinking about getting a bike. Nothing too fancy it just needs to be fast. I have a friend who built a bike and I've been thinking about racing him. Is there anything you could recommend and preferably something black."

"Well, if you want nothing but speed and the color black...." Chesh nods over at the cycle raised off the ground with cinder blocks that he was working on. "That's my personal ride over there. I built another one just like it and just tinkering with this one. I call it Bandersnatch. All about speed and mobility at an easily controllable degree. Fastest ride I have and I could get you one just like it. Minimal down payment and insurance won't cost you that much."

Aeden looks around the garage and notices another Bandersnatch that seems to be ready for sale. He walks over and looks it over. "Well it is my style and if its as good as you say then I'll probably be able to beat Shem in that race." Aeden notices the price tag and begins thinking to himself. "I do believe that price is within what I can afford. I'll take it Cheshire!"

It was around then that Byron rides back into the garage in his Raven, a trail of cyan light following him like a will o' wisp and slowly fades away as he stops. Byron looks up seeing two new faces in the shop. "You're finally getting customers! Let's celebrate with fried chicken!" Byron lifts up a plastic bag with a Pokeye's label on it. Alice looks at it with excitement in her eyes though she tries to hide it.

"Go ahead," Cheshire said out loud. Byron drops the bag in Alice's hand who runs to the back table and starts setting it up for lunch. "Byron, this gentleman here wishes to buy a Bandersnatch. Please go get the appropriate papers."

"Got it tomcat," Byron said as he hopped off of Raven and headed for a nearby filing cabinet. Rummaging through the documents, Byron takes out a stack of papers and strolls over to Cheshire, handing it to him.

"Well then, all you need to do is sign these papers, show me your driver's license and identification, give me a down payment as well as your insurance info, and then we can talk delivery. Would you like to seat yourself on a Bandersnatch model for personal preview?"

When the male faunus, "Cheshire" had introduced himself, Liseran had already been paralyzed. She was still getting used to talking to people, especially males because mostly the Dormirse clan consisted of women, and he was a polite one at that.

Just as she was going to squeak about a motorcycle called "the Raven" another man came in. He was just an inch taller than her but that was enough to intimidate her. He had introduced himself, too, but she was still paralyzed. Her mind was in a sort of daze the way it was when she was confronted with new people. The only calming presence she saw in the room was girl whom, in the vision, had been referenced as Alice.

Cheshire and Aeden began talking. She watched as they dealt and tried one vehicle while clutching her book tightly and about to cry because she couldn't talk. It was only then that someone came in with the motorcycle. The Raven. With a sudden heated passion, she tapped the male Faunus' shoulder and pointed at the motorcycle.

"T-THAT!" she yelped. "I-I want it! I'll pay double if I must!"

Aeden glanced over to the girl he had interrupted earlier. That was a bit unexpected. I should really introduce myself and apologize appropriately but before that there is business to take care of. Aeden lifted the papers before him and quickly looked them over making sure everything was acceptable.  "Well everything seems to be in order, give me one second while I take out the necessary documents." Aeden reached into one of his belt pockets and produced all the necessary papers and cards neatly folded to be able to fit in his pockets. "You'll have to excuse the folds I keep them where I feel is safest." Aeden looks down at the papers once more finding all the places he must sign and does so.

Cheshire slowly turns around as he felt the light tapping on his shoulder. Looking at the almost puppy-like nervousness of the girl Cheshire almost smiled, but he managed to keep his usual poker face. Cheshire follows her finger to see her pointing at Raven. With a courteous nod Cheshire replies, "Of course. One second if you please."

Cheshire calls Byron over telling him to bring in another Raven model parked in the back of the garage. Wheeling it over manually, Byron drags a shiny black motorcycle that looked exactly like his own Raven towards where Cheshire and the lady customer were. Byron tips his hat to the timid female and locks the wheels so the bike would stand on its own from there.

"I call this model The Raven," Cheshire explains. "Unlike the Bandersnatch, the Raven has good speed but is mostly made for mobility and maneuvering. It possesses a secondary transformation which allows flight at a fifty foot altitude maximum. Needless to say, it's a little pricier and insurance will be even worse. If you still want to purchase it though, would you like a test drive first?"

Liseran thought she was going to yelp again, but she swallowed it and closed her eyes. She thought she had heard a "No."

Of course, this had only been Liseran's usually delusions of rejection but it didn't stop her from panicking. Without further ado she grasped Cheshire by the shirt and started shaking.

"I'll give you any price for it! Please!" she begged. "I really really want it! I know it doesn't make sense but I had a vision of it and it was beautiful and its called the Raven just like in the poem in my book named F. Poe. I've never owned anything in my life aside from books because my family members think I'll destroy it and books don't matter if they're damaged but they do! I treat my books like holy sanctuaries and it wouldn't do any damage to it. And this vehicle is almost as holy as my books and I will ride it and take care of it like a child! I give my stuff nicknames too, if you don't believe me!"

It was only then that the previous thing that the faunus had said "test drive" fell into her ears. She looked up at him and her face went completely red. Dropping him and moving one foot away, she coughed and nodded.

"Y-yes...sure..." she said. "Y-you first..."

A slight chuckle escaped Cheshire's lips but he soon went back to his stern expression. Brushing the wrinkles from his shirt, Cheshire acted like the girl's outburst did not happen and turned to Byron. "Well then, I'll let you  help this lady out with her test drive. If she or the vehicle gets even one scratch, you'll be at fault."

With that, Cheshire nods politely to the girl and walks away leaving her alone with Byron.

"Alright, take a seat on your first bought child," Byron laugh, patting his hand on the leather seat. "You know how to drive a holy item?"

There was a small flutter of relief and happiness in Liseran's heart. No one else might have heard it but she was sure a chuckle had left Cheshire's lips. He walked away and she was left with the other man who was called Byron who was asking her if she knew how to drive.

"I-I do," she squeaked. "But...maybe you can shoe me how the Raven works?"

It was the longest sentence (disregarding her outburst earlier) and her throat felt sore saying it. She waited for the man's response kind of worried again of rejection and kind of sad the gentleman with cat ears had left.

Cheshire approaches Aeden now that he left the female customer under the care of Byron and takes the now filled out papers and insurance info from him. He calls Alice over and hands her the papers asking her to make copies. Turning back to Aeden, Cheshire asks, "Alright, would you like to try it out for a test drive? While we're out we can talk about delivery and payment plans."

Meanwhile, Byron has wheeled his own Raven until it was right next to the new one and sits on it.

"Best way to teach is with hands on experience," Byron states turning the key. He nods his head at the other Raven, the keys already in the ignition. "Now follow along."

Byron's Raven revved up to life as he started it up and demonstrated how to drive it to the customer. He slowly drove his cycle forward a few feet and stopped looking back at her. "You got it? Now you try. Don't worry if you lose control. Trust me and you'll be fine."

"I test drive sounds like a great idea Cheshire." Aeden looks over to the girl. "One second though." Aeden excuses himself and walks over to Liseran. "Umm hello Miss. I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Aeden Kase. Forgive me if this is rude but I see that you seem a little nervous about this. If it makes you feel better how about we go on a casual drive just to help you get accustomed to riding the vehicle." Aeden tried to be as polite as possible as he offered his help. He didn't want to scare the girl and thought this might be able to help her relax.

Liseran was surprised by the sudden apology and offer and she was trembling again. She had never met people as nice as the ones she had met in the shop.

Small tears ran down her eyes, but she nodded furiously.

"Sure!" she said hastily. "I mean...yes. And you don't need to apologize. Also...my name's Liseran. Lise for short. Nice to meet you."

A small shiver went up her spine and then the next thing she knew she was pointing her index finger at Aeden.

"D-don't underestimate me!" she said. "I happen to have read ten different volumes on vehicle driving and I'll handle little Rae-rae with ease!"

Aeden almost apologized for making the Lise cry but was surprised by her sudden confidence in herself. Aeden was a little shocked but his face is quickly filled with a friendly smile. "You don't say. Don't worry Lise I've learned to never underestimate people." Aeden extends his hand for a handshake. "You're interesting I like you, its a pleasure to meet you and once you're ready we'll head out."

"Rae Rae?" Byron said between chuckles. "I have to say, you really are interesting. Already naming the thing?"

"If she's buying it she can do whatever the heck she wants with it," Cheshire mumbles suddenly behind the three of them on his own Bandersnatch. "The keys are in the ignition," Cheshire stated nodding his head towards the other one. "I will ride next to you while Byron rides next to.... Miss Liseran you said? We'll just be around to make sure everything runs smoothly. Watch the place, alright Alice?"

From the other end of the shop, Alice nods her head while her mouth was full of chicken, the long cloth attached to her hat flopping up and down.

Liseran had been surprised by the sudden gesture of kindness. She had never met such welcoming people. Aeden's hand was in front of her and for a while she hesitated. She then steeled herself and took it into her own trembling one, finally revealing itself from the long carmine cardigan's sleeve.

"S-same here," she said. "I'm ready...it's a pleasure, too."

Byron then made the remark on the nickname she gave for the Raven and Cheshire told them about the riding arrangements. As they went out, she looked at Byron inquisitively.

"What's wrong with the name Rae-rae?" Liseran said. "The Raven's a girl, after all. Also, will there be a ramp when we drive? I'd like to see Rae-rae fly."

"A girl eh?" Byron says, a smile on his face. "Well then there's nothing wrong with that name at all. Fairly cute actually. I suppose that makes your Rae Rae my Raven's cute little sister. As for flying, the Raven model has a special lift engine that makes use of momentum dust so you can take off right from the ground. I'll show you how it works while we ride. My name is Byron Hatter by the way."

Byron extends his hand towards her.

With the pleasantries sorted out Aeden hops on his own Bandersnatch. "Rae-rae huh I guess I should give you a name too. Hopefully it'll come to me while we ride." Aeden looks over to Cheshire. "Ready when you are Cheshire. I'll let you lead the way."

With a courteous nod, Cheshire revved up Bandersnatch and drove it out of the garage at a followable pace.

"Excellent!" Liseran said almost so happy she couldn't believe it.

She swung herself over the Raven, revealing that she was wearing leggings under her long librarian skirt. Her hands seemed to tingle with joy as she started the vehicle. There was a loud purring sound, but Liseran imagined it to be a "caw" like a raven would. She then sped out of the garage with the rest of them, feeling an exhiliration only the Raven would be able to give her in the future.